Gemara Clarity

Niddah 43a

נדה מ״ג ע״א

Learn Niddah 43a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Niddah 43a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Impurity from body folds, from emissions felt or not felt, and from discharges that break loose before a change in status

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier point: a fold in the body is not 'inside of inside.' ריש לקיש then rules that a זב who moves a pure person with a pole tucked in his body fold does not make him impure, because the תורה ties הסט to the hands, which are on the outside of the body. The גמרא gives פסוקים showing that a זב and a בעל קרי become impure only once the flow leaves the body. It then asks how a כהן may hold his אמה to stop an emission, and אביי and רבא disagree about whether a soft cloth is allowed. שמואל rules that seed which the whole body does not feel does not make a person impure, and the גמרא brings other versions of his rule and the practical difference between them. רבא asks about seed that broke loose with a feeling but came out without one, and the proof the גמרא brings for this is pushed away. Next רבא asks about a גוי who converted, and about a זבה whose urine broke loose before she immersed; both questions end in תיקו. The amud ends as רבא begins another question about a gentile זבה, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְלֹא תּוֹךְ תּוֹכוֹ —

and not the inside of its inside —

קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן.

this teaches us.

אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ:

Reish Lakish said:

קָנֶה בְּקוּמְטוֹ שֶׁל זָב,

A pole in the body fold of a zav,

The steps (29)

  1. ConclusionA body fold is not 'inside of inside'
  2. Statementריש לקיש: a pole in the body fold of a זב or of a pure person
  3. ProofThe פסוק that teaches the זב's impurity by moving
  4. ResponseMoving is like his hands, so it must be from the outside of the body
  5. StatementSources that a זב and בעל קרי are only impure once the flow leaves the body
  6. ChallengeMay a person hold his אמה? A ברייתא says it is a terrible act
  7. Resolutionאביי: he holds it with a thick cloth
  8. Resolutionרבא: even a soft cloth, since the seed is already loose
  9. ConclusionThe root of the disagreement between אביי and רבא
  10. ChallengeA ברייתא against רבא: like a finger in the eye
  11. Resolutionרבא: a second heating at that moment is uncommon
  12. Statementשמואל: only seed felt by the whole body makes one impure
  13. ChallengeChallenge: woke up warm after thoughts at night
  14. Resolutionרב הונא: he dreamed of relations, which always comes with feeling
  15. StatementAnother version: only seed shot like an arrow makes one impure
  16. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two versions?
  17. ResponseThe difference: loosened with feeling, came out without
  18. QuestionWhat was obvious to שמואל is a question for רבא
  19. ProofProof from one who immersed before urinating
  20. RejectionThere most of the seed came out with a feeling
  21. StatementAnother version: weak seed cannot cause pregnancy
  22. ProofIt still makes a person impure, based on a פסוק
  23. QuestionA גוי who had thoughts and then immersed to convert
  24. QuestionThe two sides of the convert question
  25. ConclusionThe convert question stays unresolved
  26. QuestionA זבה whose urine broke loose before she immersed
  27. QuestionThe two sides of the זבה question
  28. ConclusionThe זבה question stays unresolved
  29. QuestionA gentile זבה whose urine broke loose